Documents filed under Safety from Europe

On December 24, 2015, a Vestas wind turbine collapsed in Lemnhult, Sweden. More than a year later, the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority has launched its report. The full report, in Swedish, can be accessed by clicking the links on this page. An English summary which is also provded in the report is posted below. Images of the collapsed Vestas V112 turbine can be found here.

RAF pilots have reported a catalogue of near misses with wind farms in the United Kingdom. Pilots are making over 1,000 manual corrections to their charts every month to try and keep up with the changes. This document presents the reports completed by the pilots. The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) also warns there is a potential for a mid-air disaster.

Stuart Young Consulting has reviewed The Highland Council's risk assessment and mitigation measures in siting a wind turbine at the Castletown Primary School as a representative sample of the installations at school playgrounds. The introduction of the review is provided below. The full report can be accessed by clicking the links on this page.

Following the catastrophic failure of two Vestas wind turbines on Feb 22 and 23, 2008, the Danish energy agency requested an investigation into the events. A report was produced by engineers at Risø DTU. Below is the report translated into English. The original report, in Danish, can be accessed by clicking on the link below. A video of one of the failures can be seen here: http://www.windaction.org/videos/14294 . It is important to note that the debris from the first turbine failure which occurred on February 22 spread as far as 700 meters (2200 feet) away. Risø DTU is formerly a government research institution under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Neither aviation nor the wind energy industry is at a steady state and both can be expected to evolve in ways which may impact the other. Therefore, it is expected that this CAP will be a living document, which will be updated to reflect the outcome of any further research into the interaction between wind turbine developments and aviation. It will also be revised at intervals to take account of changes in regulations, feedback from industry, and recognised best practice.

A7 Energy's appeal against the Easington District Council for refusing to grant planning permission with respect to a wind plant consisting of 2 x 2.3MW turbines was dismissed by D. L. Burrows, an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The principal reason for dismissal was adverse impact the turbines would have on the activities of Shotten airfield.

In the beginning of the nineties, ECN and consultants in the Netherlands were approached by local authorities and developers of wind farms with the question: “Is it safe to erect a wind turbine at this location?”

"Developers and owners of wind turbines have a duty to ensure the safety of the general public and their own staff. However, there are currently no guidelines for dealing with potential dangers arising from ice thrown off wind turbines. This puts developers, owners, planning authorities and insurers in a difficult position. To rectify this situation, the work presented here has commenced in order to produce an authoritative set of guidelines. Initial work has resulted in the development of a risk assessment methodology which has been used to demonstrate that the risk of being struck by ice thrown from a turbine is diminishingly small at distances greater than approximately 250 m from the turbine in a climate where moderate icing occurs."

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